Bottle carrier with handle



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E. A. SHUXTEAU BOTTLE CARRIER WITH HANDLE WWW!!! Sept. 27, 1955 Filed June 27, 1952 IN VEN TOR. Ezggwe CZ Sfimtecm BY MW WY'W! United States Patent BOTTLE CARRIER WITH HANDLE Eugene A. Shuxtean, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Application June 27, 1952, Serial No. 295,880

1 Claim. (Cl. 229-47) This invention relates to bottle carriers and similar devices, and has to do with a bottle carrier formed from a one-piece blank of paper board or analogous material.

Paper board bottle carriers are well known and extensively used. In general, bottle carriers presently in use are intended for transporting comparatively light loads, such as a half-dozen bottles of soft drink, and are formed of lightweight material. A bottle carrier for transporting heavier loads, if formed of paper board, should be formed of comparatively heavy or thick paper board which possesses considerable rigidity in order to support the load. Further, a carrier intended for transporting heavy loads must be of rugged construction, effectively reinforced with the elements thereof effectively tied together, and should have a minimum of exposed edges such as would tend to interfere with packing of a plurality of loaded carriers in a container or might be caught on projections with resultant injury to the carrier.

My invention is directed to a one-piece carrier formed of paper board or analogous material which is comparatively heavy or thick and possesses considerable rigidity, so as to be capable of supporting heavy loads. The carrier of my invention is formed from a one-piece blank set up to provide two compartments open at their top for insertion of bottles, the compartments having walls of multiple thickness tied together so as to be mutually reinforcing. The inner side walls of the compartments are integrally connected at their upper edges and are provided with a handle element of substantial thickness, the lower portion of which is of appreciable width, to avoid narrow or sharp edges such as would cause discomfort to the hand in carrying the loaded carrier. In setting up the carrier from the blank, the outer panels of the walls of the carrier are disposed with similar surfaces thereof exposed and the exposed outer surfaces of such blanks preferably are provided with a finishing coat. That is advantageous in that all printing, such as advertising matter, may be applied to one surface of the blank in its flat condition on the finished surfaces of the panels which, in the set up condition of the blank, are the outer panels of the outer side and end walls of the carrier. Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the detail description.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of a blank from which the carrier of my invention is formed;

Figure 2 is an isometric side view of the carrier of my invention formed from the blank of Figure 1, the outer panel of the outer side wall being partly broken away;

Figure 3 is a sectional View, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 44 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

The blank of Figure l is cut from a sheet of paper board or analogous material. The term paper board frequently is used rather loosely to indicate either paper board proper or analogous materials, such as cardboard, pasteboard, fibreboard and strawboard, and that term as used here, is used in its generic sense to include paper board and analogous materials. Preferably, the blank is cut from a sheet of hard faced paper board of approximately of an inch thickness and which possesses considerable rigidity.

The blank is cut and scored to provide inner side wall panels 8, bottom wall panels 9, outer side wall panels 10, securing flaps 11 at the upper edges of the panels 10, outer end wall panels 12 at the ends of the panels 8, securing flaps 13 at the upper edges of the panels 12, inner end wall panels 14 at the ends of the bottom wall panels 9, outer side wall panels 15 extending from the outer side edges of the inner end wall panels 14, and handle tabs 16 cut from the upper portions of the inner side wall panels 8. In the above description of the blank, the various elements thereof have been described with reference to the positions which they occupy in the set up carrier, to avoid confusion, as will be understood.

The upper edges of the side wall panels 8 are joined together by a line of scoring of substantial width providing a fold strip 18 having a width approximately four times the thickness of the material of the blank. The respective handle tabs 16 are attached at their lower edges to the inner side panels 8 along a line of perforations 19. The remaining panels and flaps of the blank are connected together by fold strips 22 having effective width approximately twice the thickness of the blank, the purpose of which will appear more fully presently. The fold strips 18 and 22 are formed by scoring the blank in a known manner. The panels 12 are separated from the panels 14 by slots 24 of substantial width extending into the panels 8 and 9, and the panels 15 are separated from the panels 10 and the flaps 11 thereof by slots 25 of substantial width extending into the panels 9 and 14.

In setting up the blank of Figure l to provide the carrier of Figure 2, thehandle tabs 16 may be folded about the lines of perforations 19 toward the under or opposite face of the inner side wall panels 8, after which the panels 8 are folded together along the fold strip 18 and secured together by stapling or in other suitable manner. The tabs 16 then extend upward between the upper portions of the inner side wall panels 8, spacing them apart and providing therewith a handle element 27 above the aligned hand openings 28 provided in the panels 8 by folding upward the tabs 16. As is shown in Figure 2, the inner side wall panels 8 slope upward and inward at their end portions and are of greater height than the remaining walls of the carrier for the major portion of their length, giving ready access to the handle element 27. The tabs 16, together with the handle portions of panels 8, provide a handle of substantial thickness. Further, the folded lower edges of the tabs 16 provide elements of appreciable width which will not tend to cut into the fingers of the hand grasping the handle element 27.

After the handle tabs 16 have been folded into position and the inner wall panels 8 have been secured together, as above, the bottom wall panels '9 are folded into position at right angles to the inner side wall panels 8, along the fold strips 22 therebetween, and the inner end wall panels are folded upward at right angles to the bottom wall panels 9 along the fold strips 22 therebetween. The outer end wall panels 12 are then folded outward at right angles to the inner side wall panels 8 along the fold strips 22 therebetween, so as to seat on the outer faces of the panels 14, after which the securing flaps 13 are folded downward and inward over the upper edges of panels 14, along the fold strips 22 between panels 12 and flaps 13. The outer end wall panels 12 are then suitably secured, conveniently by stapling, to the inner end wall panels 14, and the securing flaps 13 are also secured, conveniently by stapling, to the panels 12 and 14. It will be noted that the outer end wall panels 12 are substantially coextensive with the inner end wall panels 14 and provide therewith end walls of multiple thickness which are tied by the panels 12 to the ends of the inner side wall panels 8. The securing flaps 13 further reinforce the end walls and tie them to'the inner side wall panels 8.

After the end walls have been assembled and secured in the manner stated, the panels 15 are folded inward at right angles to the panels 14, about the fold strips 22 therebetween. The outer side wall panels are then folded upward at right angles to the bottom wall panels 9 about the fold strips 22 therebetween, in position seating on the outer faces of the panels which thus become the inner panels of the outer side wall. The secur ing flaps 11 are then folded inward and downward over the upper edges of the panels 15, about the fold strip 22 between the respective panels 10 and flaps 11. Thereafter the panels 10 and 15 are secured together and the flaps 11 are secured to the panels 10 and 15 in a suitable manner, conveniently by stapling. That completes the carrier which appears as shown in Figure 2. It will be noted that the outer side walls of the carrier are of multiple thickness and are tied to the end walls by the panels 15. The carrier thus produced is of rugged construction and exceptional strength and comprises two connected compartments open at their top for insertion of the bottles. Each compartment is of a size to receive one dozen bottles of a soft drink sold under the name of 7 Up, making a total of two dozen bottles, which provide a load of substantial weight. The carrier as constructed is well suited to support such a load and, as above noted, provides a handle of substantial thickness and without sharp edges or corners, which facilitates transport of the carrier. In the set up carrier the fold strips 22 provide inclined elements 30 at the corners of the carrier connecting the various panels thereof.

From the above it will be seen that, in the set up carrier, the outer or exposed surfaces of the panels 10 and 12 are those surfaces which are disposed at the same face of the blank. Accordingly, all printed matter may be applied to one face of the blank which is an advantage in that respect. As previously noted, the slots 24 extend into the panels 8 and 9 and the slots 25 extend into the panels 9 and 14. In the set up carrier, the inner end portions of the slots 24 and 25 provide openings 32 through the bottom of the carrier at the corners thereof. The carrier preferably is formed from hard faced paper board or analogous material which possesses considerable resistance to moisture. Accordingly, the openings 32 are advantageous in providing for drainage of moisture from the compartments of the carrier.

The carrier of my invention is particularly suited for transporting bottled soft drinks or the like, and has been described as used for that purpose. It may, however, be used for transporting canned goods, or other goods or articles and, as noted, is capable of supporting comparatively heavy loads. Accordingly, my invention is not limited to a bottle carrier and that term, as used in the appended claim, is used for purposes of description only and not in a limiting sense.

It will be understood that changes in detail may be resorted to without departing from the field and scope of my invention, and I intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claim, in this application in which the preferred form only of my invention has been disclosed.

I claim:

In a paper board bottle carrier, two compartments sub stantially rectangular in plan respectively comprising inner and outer side walls and end walls and a bottom wall, said inner side walls being integrally connected at their upper edges and secured together providing a partition of two thicknesses of paper board between said compartments, all of said walls being formed from a one piece paper board blank, said end walls respectively comprising an inner end wall panel extending upward from an end of said bottom wall and a continuous outer end wall panel extending from an end of the adjacent inner side wall and of approximately the same height and width as said inner panel and seating on the outer face of the latter, said outer side walls respectively comprising inner panels extending from the outer side edges of the adjacent inner end wall panels and an outer panel extending upward from said bottom wall and seating on the outer faces of said inner panels of said outer side wall, said inner panels of said outer side wall being of approximately equal height therewith and having a combined length substantially equal to the length of said outer sidewall, said outer end wall panels each having a flap integrally attached to its upper edge and folded downwardly and inwardly onto the inner face of the corresponding inner end Wall panel and secured thereto and to its associated outer end wall panel thereby securing said inner and outer end wall panels together and to said flap and providing three thicknesses of paper board at the upper edge portion of each of said end walls, said outer panel of said outer side wall having a flap integrally attached to its upper edge and folded downwardly and inwardly onto the inner face of said inner panels of said outer side wall and secured thereto and to its associated outer panel thereby securing the panels of said outer side wall together and to said flap and providing three thicknesses of paper board at the upper edge portion of said outer side wall, said end and outer side walls being of two thicknesses of paper board throughout substantially their full extent below said end and outer side wall flaps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

